One Summer's Day
by Nekocin
Summary: [Second submission for Opreversebang 2015.] Luffy and Usopp end up lost in a strange island and start losing memories of their identities.


For **OPreversebang 2015.**

Thank you totalshiptrash for the wonderful fanart. I hope you like this. Sorry for the late post. I was unsure on how to handle the plot until I had smoothed stuff out.

* * *

What was supposed to be another bunch of trees spreading their branches wide and high to the skies to shade them from the sun, turned out to be an orchard of gigantic fruits. The paths between the roots were laid wide open to allow passage of five people walking side by side. Even though all the orchard looked man-made to Usopp, the sand paths did not show signs of wheels or footsteps having passed through for quite a long time.

Another thing was…there were no sounds of the forest around him. No sounds of twittering birds and day creatures calling each other in the forest. No buzzing of wasps or the rustling of flapping wings. No sounds of river stream trickling nearby.

Being ever so curious, Luffy had climbed several trees to see what's beyond the orchard, saw something amazing that made him shout in awe, "Wuohohoho! That's some awesome roof!" and run off ahead before he could explain to Usopp what he had discovered.

"Don't just run off on your own, stupid captain!" Usopp screamed after him but Luffy was too far away to hear him.

Usopp rubbed his forearm to stop his arm from shaking. He gulped and glanced around him with suspicion, wondering if there was anyone watching. His 'Can't Set Foot on New Island disease' senses had been tingling the moment they docked the Sunny. Goosebumps popped along his arms.

"I said, 'No! There is something weird about this island'. But noooo, Nami said, 'it's all right, no signs of strange weather clouds above the island, so it MUST be safe'. And I said, why was the forest so quiet?" Usopp ranted to himself, mimicking the tone and expression of his crewmembers to himself. "And Chopper said, they were probably asleep because I can still smell them."

He pinched his lips together to stop the trembling and composed himself, gathering his courage to take a step forward to follow Luffy. Maybe Nami and Chopper were right. Nothing was wrong about this island. It was just like any other island on this planet. Of course there would be quirks about every island they passed. Besides, he is stronger now. He has undergone rigorous training for two year like everyone else in the crew. He should be able to handle anything thrown at him. Usopp's hand unconsciously reached to the pouch where he kept the Pop Greens, ready to fling one at any potential attacker.

He scanned the area to find anything odd that might eat or jump him and almost missed the sight of a herd. A herd of seven sheeps with thick fluffy cloud fur were chewing patiently behind several fallen branches and undergrowth of bushes. Strange how Usopp hadn't noticed them nearby. They were watching him with their beady eyes. One of them bleated and took a step forward, several more, its cheeks puffed up with the food it was taking its time to chew.

"What are you doing out here in the forest?" Or orchard? Usopp blinked several times at the sheep closing in.

The sheep spit out something in front of Usopp's shoes. Something that was definitely not green or weed-like. It looked like a tail, some grey fur, splattered in red spit.

Usopp didn't want to know what that was, but he's sure that this wasn't sheep food at all!

He immediately threw his hands in the air and ran away screaming, "LUUUFFFFYYYYY! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! WHERE ARE YOUUUUUU?"

His search for Luffy took forever as he ran down the wide sandy path as fast as he could. Soon enough the wide path started getting narrower and narrower until Usopp couldn't tell whether the bushes had covered the sandy path or he had lost his way. Usopp didn't stop to find out, though, instead he was rushing blindly through thick undergrowth, into bushes and tripped over fallen branches. Several sharp twigs had nicked his cheeks and his arms along the way. Once or twice did large leafs smacked him in the face while others somehow nearly strangled his nose off his face.

* * *

"Oi Usopp, you're so slow." Luffy laughed, waving both his hands in the air.

Usopp ran past him, perked up when he finally noticed Luffy and quickly changed direction, skidding to a halt. His abrupt stop sent him tumbling into Luffy's side and they both ended on the ground in a sprawled heap.

"Ow, ow, ow." Usopp groaned as he breathed heavily through both his nose and mouth.

Luffy shoved him aside to stand up and patted his clothes. "I was about to leave you behind. Where were you? I thought you followed me."

Sweat slid down Usopp's face, making him feel even more icky than before. He swiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand as he scowled at the captain. "Listen to people when they call you to wait, okay? I almost got eaten by gigantic, meat-eating sheep back there!"

"Shishishishi. Sorry, sorry. But look at this big place!" Luffy threw his arms around, ignoring his complaints with a wide grin. "We can have a huge feast here and camp out as well."

Usopp pushed himself off the ground and finally took in his surroundings.

There were no houses around. No huge boulders to hide in. No mountains as far as Usopp could tell. Only weeds and wildflowers that reached past Usopp's knees. A flat island with actual gigantic orchard that reminded him of Greenstone Forest back in Boin Archipelago.

The fact it was almost the same as Boin save for the abundance of food growing everywhere, made Usopp suspicious. What if it was going to eat them when the center of the island open its mouth to devour its own animals and fruits? What if it was the island that lured them into a trap?

"And look here!" Luffy patted the wooden sign nearby. "This is a cool sign!"

It's only when Usopp looked down at his feet did he see the unmistakable path leading to the arrow, which was also conveniently standing in the middle of a crossroad. Usopp scrutinized the front and back of the arrow, tried to wipe it to see if sand had covered the original lettering underneath but it turned out to be a blank piece of wood.

"Where is the arrow pointing anyway?" Usopp wondered, scrutinizing the wood.

"What's so cool about it?"

"Watch." Luffy said secretively and puffed his chest to face the arrow. "Hello! I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I will become Pirate King. Where is our ship, Arrow?"

To Usopp's horror the arrow board shook, twisted to the direction where Usopp and Luffy had come from and black letters appeared on the wood. COAST, it read.

Usopp's insides went cold. "W-what the hell?"

"Shishishishi! Isn't it awesome?" Luffy's eyes sparkled when they turned to him. "This is magic! Let's ask another one!"

"No! Luffy! Let's get out of here!"

"Don't worry, Usopp. This is an adventure." Luffy let out a reverend tone at the last part and gave Usopp a meaningful gaze. The look he gave Usopp was like the one he had shown him when they were in Shakky's bar.

"I'm hungry." Luffy whipped his head to regard the arrow again, "Where can we find food, Arrow?"

The wood shook again and pointed to some vague direction up ahead, inked letters forming across its surface; FOOD.

"Yosh! Thank you, Arrow! Let's go, Usopp!"

"Oi, oi Luffy. How can you trust that plank? What if it's a trap?"

"One way to find out." Luffy flashed him a wide grin. "I only want food! Come on! I'll race ya!" Luffy pressed his straw hat to his head and ran off as fast as his could, leaving a cloud of dust to envelop Usopp.

"H-hey, hey, wait! Luffy, no!" Usopp coughed, waving his hand in an attempt to disperse the dust and ran as well, following Luffy's trail.

And that's how they ended up in the city. The change of environment had made Usopp hesitate to rush ahead. He peered around with cautious steps and gulped.

The fact that this street had no pedestrians lingering around was suspicious.

The buildings were mostly five to six stories high. decorative vines had grown curled along the walls and lampposts. Hanging flower pots of bright pink, red, yellow and blue brought out splashes of color in this side of the street. The grey of the cobblestones and the beige colors of the wall looked rather subdued with the green of the vines, but with the bright flowers present on almost every windowsill or balcony, the whole street looked like a walk in a picturesque painting.

"Oi, Luffy!" Usopp's voice cracked halfway. He hunching his shoulders as he frantically looked around him for anything off. His glance skittered to the dark windows that seemed to have eyes looking through the glass. The shutters looked too new to be abandoned. The cobblestone road underneath their feet looked too well cared for.

Usopp's skin felt cold as he tried to keep pace with Luffy. They were slowly meandering their way over the silent street, stopping sometimes to check through dark windows and prying doors open for signs of life. The more they wandered further, the more Usopp felt invisible currents zapping the hair at the back of his neck and alarm bells ringing in his mind. Danger. Danger. Danger.

"Hey, let's go back, Luffy! It's getting dark soon. This feels like a trap to me, Luffy. Why is everywhere we go so quiet and clean? There is no way-"

Luffy's eyes brightened, his nose flared up as he inhaled something delicious in the air.

Sure enough when Usopp did the same, the sharp tangy scent of barbecued meat had reached his nostrils, more specifically, Luffy's nose.

"FOOOOOOOD!" Luffy shouted in excitement, sniffing the air to track down the place where delicious food was being prepared or laid out, and ran off yet again.

His worries temporarily forgotten, Usopp followed him close at his heels, trying to match the captain in speed and let out his own battle cry to race Luffy to the food stall.

They both slipped inside the tiny food stall where the scent of barbeque was the strongest and took their seat at the counter, chanting "Meat! Food! Meat! Food!" over each other, slapping their hands on the counter in tandem.

"Boss, I want all kinds of meat! All your meat!" Luffy ordered aloud. "Everything on your menu!"

Reflexively, Usopp slapped the back of Luffy's head. "You crazy! Do you have enough money to pay for everything?"

"Nope! But I can ask Nami." Luffy wide-toothed grin made Usopp sigh.

"How much is your debt on Nami anyway? She won't lend you this much money next time you want food."

"But I am hungryyyyy. Can't it wait?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "Where is the boss?" He slammed harder on the counter." Oi, boss! Where are you? I want food. Give me whatever food you have there cooking in the back!"

"Oi, oi, Luffy. Don't draw too much attention on yourself-"

"Hello."

"-EEEEEK!" Usopp shrieked and nearly fell off the counter chair if his feet hadn't immediately halted his backward fall.

"My apologies for surprising you, dearest customers. I am the boss of this joint." A rather familiar baritone voice introduced himself.

There was a buzzing going on in Usopp's mind when he decided to look at the boss of the food stall, a rather tall, broad-shouldered man with a goatee. The spots looked impressive against the yellow fur. Not as impressive as the way his furry chest puffed out that the apron he was wearing could barely contain it.

Usopp slapped his right ear where the buzzing was the strongest and only then did he realize the food stall wasn't exactly empty to begin with. They were all surrounded by other customers, busy conversing to each other. And the path where they had wandered out of was filled with pedestrians making their way into the main street.

Usopp blinked owlishly at his surroundings. When did it get so busy here?

Where did he see this huge cat before?

Luffy being rather trusting in anything food related, he had already grabbed the utensils in both hands and rapped the counter several times. "All right, Boss! Can you get me everything on the menu?" Luffy waved at the general direction of the kitchen. "Hurry up. I'm hungry."

"Certainly." The big Cat said, a sliver of a smirk on his lips and it was gone before Usopp could blink.

"Here you go, dearest customer." Usopp blinked to see the whole counter filled with various meat dishes, cooked in various spices and plated differently. That was fast. The cook was probably a wizard or some sort.

Luffy beside him was already chomping into the meat, stuffing his mouth back and forth. "Aren't you going to eat?" Luffy asked, wistfully staring at Usopp's share of meat dishes, spitting chunks of meat and onion.

"Don't speak with your mouth full!" Usopp snapped and wiped the spittle off his face with disgust. He inhaled sharply, taking in the scent of fresh herbs and spice and his stomach immediately groaned. Usopp slapped Luffy's wandering fingers and hunched over his lone plate, hissing, "Mine!"

He cut the meat into bite-size pieces and ate them with gusto, groaning at the amazing burst of flavors filling his mouth and the urge to eat more bubbled up. Without realizing, he had inhaled the food in five bits and ordered another plate.

By now, the warning bells in Usopp's mind were wailing a song. Everything sounded like a buzz.

Conversations of the other customers started to get louder and louder, overpowering the buzzing in Usopp's head. The flashy yellow coat of a giraffe and the swishing tail of a wolf had caught Usopp's attention.

"Tender meat loaf for table 8. Here you go, ma'am. Enjoy your meal!" The giraffe called out and laid down a huge plate of meat in front of a giggling… Usopp narrowed his eyes, wait, where had he seen her before? He racked his brains to remember a name, a face, anything, but the image escaped his grasp like sand through his fingers. She flipped her hair back and started cutting her meat in half, one share for the duck sitting across her table and the other for herself. Her long blue hair remained striking in the backdrop of grey walls and cobblestones.

"Move your big ass." The wolf snarled and flicked his tail against the giraffe. The giraffe looked affronted while the wolf pushed past him to get to table three with another large order. "Your barbequed seaking meat, sir. Enjoy!"

The customer nodded quietly, plucked off the thick cigar from his clenched teeth and jabbed it in the ashtray. One hooked hand moved to curl a napkin underneath his collar while his other hand selected an utensil at his disposal.

The two waiters continued to snark at each other, calling each other bad names, swatting tails at each other in passing. And none of the customers seemed to mind. Too busy to dig into their food to pay attention to the squabbling waiters.

"Boss! More!" demanded Luffy, piling his tenth plate on top of the ninth. Usopp whipped his head around to stare wide-eyed at Lu- Usopp frowned. Usopp racked his brain for a name that should have started with an L. But the space that followed the L-name was blank.

Who was this guy again?

This guy's stomach was working like a huge hole. Where the hell would his food fit in that tiny, slender body?

Three more plates were added to L's pile.

A gong sounded in the distance. It rang seven times, echoing in the food stall and everyone stopped eating. Even the man sitting beside Usopp.

"Thank you for doing business with us, dearest customers." The big Cat said and gestured to the door.

When Usopp found himself outside, the man with whom he had been sitting at the counter had followed him. All the customers of the food stall crowded the main street and formed two orderly line with other customers from other food stalls, keeping the middle road open.

Paper fans were slipped out from their pockets and everyone in the crowd started waving. Even Usopp found himself waving his paper fan.

Richly-dressed creatures slowly made their way down the middle road, their clothes floating above the the cobblestones. In the distance the horn of a cruise boat signaled its exit.

"Welcome! Honored guests!" Usopp found himself repeating the words with his neighbors, enthusiastically waving left and right.

Once the last of the richest creatures had past, everyone rushed around. Some went back to their houses. Others went ahead to follow the nobility up ahead. Usopp himself followed the march as they headed over a red bridge into the gigantic home of the healing spring baths.

* * *

He spent his nights working long hours.

He scrubbed the walls as best as he could, soap bubbles sliding down across his skin and got his uniform soaked. The discomfort was short-lived as he pushed on to complete his job. His muscles were screaming and his hands were trembling in exhaustion.

The other kid with whom he had entered the spring bath was scraping the bottom of the bathtubs, humming happily to some random tune. Whatever made that kid happy, Usopp couldn't bring himself to wonder.

Other times there were accidents.

The hot water scalded his skin.

He cried out in shock, quickly moving back and cradled his arm that was turning red from the burn. The pipes dropped down to spill out scorching hot water into the bath tub.

"You okay?" The other kid asked him pointedly looking at the arm.

"I'm fine." He bit out and hid his scalded skin behind his back, rushing to the nearest cold water tap to cool down his skin.

When they were not busy working, he was busy staring at the ceiling, wiggling in the tight space of his bed and grunted when the kid beside him threw a leg over his stomach.

There's something about the kid, he thought when he drifted off to sleep, his eyelids fluttering closed. For whatever reason he thought he ought to know this kid in some way.

The last image he had of the kid was a youthful face sleeping with his mouth hanging open, the night wind tousling his short black hair.

The familiarity didn't go away at all for nights. Not even during lunch breaks.

The kid was always hungry.

As if out of habit, he shared his buns and fried sticks with the kid to clear that pitiful look.

He lost count the days and nights that followed. He no longer kept track of time, only remained focused on the work, sleep and eat. And sometimes on the kid who adopted him as his best friend.

A commotion below the House had sent the staff in disarray. The supervisors clambered at the walls, ribbiting orders through the many pipeline phones. The customers screamed and scrambled to pick up their towels to preserve their modesty.

He and the kid had just finished their clean up round at the top floor and took the elevator, heading to the ground floor.

When they got to the third floor, the door opened to let in a customer. The kid automatically stepped aside to let the customer in. She was a rather tall woman, still fully dressed in black pants and black jacket, despite this place being a spring bath business where it was customary of the customers to take off their clothes beforehand.

With long black hair and a wide forehead proclaiming intelligence, she was rather attractive by normal standards. She nodded at them both, a fraction of surprise in her eyes and then she smiled. "I'm sorry, Usopp. Luffy."

A ringing in the back of his mind as he wondered… Usopp? Was that his name?

Wait how did she know his name? Was it really his name?

He forgot things again.

The lady with the straight black hair grabbed him by the nose and pushed it backwards.

Pain shot through his face as his eyes teared up. He flailed at the unexpected attack and trying to backpedal away from the crazy lady until she shoved something past his teeth, into his mouth and clamped his jaw shut with several extra hands that popped out from nowhere. Whatever she gave him, it was forced down his throat with her rough handling.

"I hope this works." She murmured, two extra hands popped out from nowhere and used the extra hands to jab the back of his neck. His eyes rolled back as the edges of the world started to blacken.

The strange lady did the same with the kid, shoving something into the kid's throat.

Then.

Black.

Then.

He remembered.

* * *

The sound of sea waves crashing against the hull of Sunny. Seagulls cried out as they flew overhead. One of them took a chance to dive into the water and slid back out with a thrashing fish caught between its beak. The sun had been big and scorching hot that day.

"Haaa haaa haaaaaa." Sweat was rolling along his face, thick and sticky, but Luffy couldn't bring himself to wipe it all off.

"It's too hooot." he complained, dropping his tongue out of his mouth like a dog and breathes through his mouth, feebly flapping a hand in his face to get some semblance of cool wind, but instead, everything got hotter and oppressive at the same time. The sun was beating down mercilessly, pressing against his skin, his clothes, his everything else in an uncomfortable blanket of suffocation.

With a slight crease of his eyebrows, he looked around the lawn he had flopped down on, underneath the tree. Everyone had tried to make themselves comfortable in the limited shades of the tangerine trees. Only Nami and Sanji were absent on the deck.

"Ahhhh, it's so hot out here I feel like it's burning my skin to crisps." Brook said, lowering his voice in a mock-serious tone and swiped his forehead dramatically to brush off stray sweat. He rested his cup on the saucer, raising a pinky bone in the air as he threw his head to let out a shrill laughter. "But I don't have any skin on my bones. Yohohohoh!"

There was no way Brook was drinking hot tea in this heat. But then again, he was all bones and whatnot, what did anyone know if his bones could still feel the heat or not?

"I wonder for how long we will last before the sun has cooked us into well-seasoned meat." Robin commented in her usual matter-of-fact tone. She had moved her lawn chair into the shades and taken off her dark blouse in favor of wearing her cropped-top instead. Other than that, she seemed completely unbothered by the heat as she laid stretched out on the chair, her long feet crossed at the ankles, while flipping through one of her many thick books cradled on her lap. Zoro snorted, as he curled around the end of her chair, trying to get under the shade of her lawn umbrella trying to nap.

"Oi, oi, Robin. You make it sound like we will turn to cannibalism in the heat stroke." Usopp flapped an accusing hand her way.

"Who knows." Robin smiled her usual enigmatic smiles, "We've been in the heat for a while. Don't you already smell the charred meat coming from your arms, Usopp? We must be really delicious right now."

"Nooooo." Usopp dragged out the word. "My nose is too sweaty to smell anything except the heat!"

"We could have steered around the islands, Strawhat-ya." Law flapped his fluffy hat in his face, a vain attempt to cool down. "We could have avoided this side of the sea."

"Would it matter? Nami says it's fine to sail here." Luffy grinned, "By the way, why are you wearing so many clothes? Take them off already. Look at me!" He pointed at himself, already stripped down to swimming trunks. His nose, cheeks and some parts of his shoulders were flushed, showing signs of sunburn.

Law had only taken off his furry hat and his furry coat. The wise guy had opted to rolling his sleeves up to his biceps and using his furry hat as a fan instead of stripping down.

"Drop your pants too and your shoes, Torao! No need to be shy. We're all so hot we don't care you're naked or half-naked with us."

"Absolutely not!"

Usopp sniggered at the suggestion before losing his interest and just laid out spread-eagled on the grass.

Beside him, Chopper had curled himself near the toilet door, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Awwww ice~ I want ice. It's too hoooot." Chopper complained. "I'm melting"

The reindeer doctor was flat on his stomach, looking like he is fusing his body into the grassed deck. "Why is it so hoooot?"

"OI, Sanjiiiiiii, ICE CREAM!" Luffy demanded, pumping his arms in the air but in the end he lost his energetic boost in a matter of seconds and dropped down beside Chopper, one of his arm elbowed Usopp in the chest. The unexpected jab made Usopp grunt.

Usopp pushed Luffy's wayward arm off his sweaty chest. "Don't come any closer!"

The only one who seemed unaffected besides Brook, was Franky. He had brought out his newest project on deck.

"Give me a moment guys. I'm almost done with this." Franky raised his voice as he hunched over his newest project, tinkering and hammering whatever was of interest, away from Usopp's line of sight.

The galley door burst open to reveal Sanji opening the door for Nami with one hand, while the other was occupied with a small tray.

Once she was out on the balcony, Sanji swiftly picked up one of the fancily decorated glasses, "Nami-swaaaan, your favorite. Vanilla tangerine mousse ice cream and chocolate strawberries as topping."

"Why thank you, Sanji." Nami fluttered her eyelashes, tasted the ice cream and let out a sigh of relief. "Delicious as always, Sanji." The smile she gave him was so brilliant, The exquisite beauty of a smiling Nami nearly blinded him..

"Anything for you mellorine~~~." Sanji flailed and danced around Nami to descend the stairs, sing-songing. "Robin-chwaaaan. I apologize for my tardiness." He set the last glass on the lawn table and bowed. "Vanilla green tea chocolate with strawberries and a hint of grape wine."

Robin slipped a bookmark on the page she was reading and closed it with a snap. "Thank you, Sanji." She smiled as she gleefully dug into her ice cream.

"Where is my share?" Luffy demanded, outraged. "I'm your captain, you know! How dare you not give me ice cream."

"Yeah! Where is ours, shitcook?" Zoro uncurled himself from around the chair and glared sleepily at Sanji.

"You didn't even think of us at all, didn't you?" Usopp quipped along resentfully.

"I don't mind getting something cool like that as well, Sanji-san." Brook said wistfully, a bony index finger tapping his teeth.

"How could you do this? I thought we were your nakama!" Chopper's wobbly voice followed.

"Oh shut up, you shitheads. Your share is in the kitchen. We should get in there instead of lounging out in the heat. What the fuck were you all thinking staying out on the deck in this heat?" Sanji snapped.

"Oh." Luffy uttered. "I didn't even think of that."

"But you usually kick us out when you're cooking in the kitchen." Usopp pointed out.

"Quit your whining and get in before you get a heatstroke." Sanji shoved his shoe into Zoro's back in the hopes of actually kicking him off the lawn chair where Robin's feet rested. Before Sanji herded everyone up the stairs, Franky struck a pose.

"I've finished our SUPER pool. Ow!" Franky shifted in his usual SUPER pose, slamming both his robotic arms together to complete the star painted on the each metal.

"Wow a pool, Franky?" Nami cheered.

"For a robot, you're really energetic, Franky." Usopp commented grudgingly. "Don't you feel the heat at all? Doesn't metal react very fast to heat?"

"Of course." Franky pushed his sunglasses up. "My cola cooler is running on overdrive here." He tapped on his stomach where he kept the cola bottles. "Also, unlike everyone here, I'm already undressed."

"Pervert!" Luffy pointed out with a laugh.

"But the swimming pool will be useless." Usopp commented. "Half of the crew is a Devil Fruit user. How do you suppose we go swim without them?"

"I want a dip in the pool too~." Chopper let out a whine.

"I've thought about this extensively of course." Franky beamed. "Let's pair up!"

"Count me out." Law huffed and pushed himself up to stand.

"Nawww, don't be such a spoilsport, Torao!" Luffy laughed, tugging Law back down to sit.

"Hai HAAIIIII~" Sanji's hand was immediately in the air. "I will protect Robin-chwuaaan and Nami-swaaaan with my last brea-."

"Let's draw sticks instead!" Nami interrupted Sanji, one hand pressing his face away.

Sanji immediately melted into the deck, hyperventilating with a wide smile, "Nami-swaaan's scent. Nami-swaaaan's delicate touch. STEP ON MEEEE MELLORINEEE."

She showed everyone the sticks in her hand. "Since we're now an even number-"

"I already said I'm not gonna dip in your pool!" Law snapped.

Nami ignored him as she continued, "Everyone with matching number should pair up. If you're both Devil Users, you can switch with someone. All right everyone, pick!"

Usopp stared at the number on the end of the stick. Three. He looked around to see what the rest of his crew had gotten, including the reluctant Trafalgar Law.

"Three! Yay! I have three! Who's my partner?" Luffy cheered as he stuck his hands in the air and waved his stick around.

Usopp perked up. "You're with me, Luffy!"

"One! Mellorine are you my number one? Robin-chwaaan, are you-?" Sanji cried out and went back and forth between Nami and Robin to see their sticks.

"Ah." Brook raised his hand politely. "That's me, Sanji. I'm forever indebted in your care. May we have fun in wetness and dryness."

"Nooooo!" Sanji crumpled to the floor on his knees and started sobbing about missed chances with the girls in bikinis.

"Five." Zoro said as he showed his stick and looked pointedly at Chopper. Chopper's ears drooped and shook his head, but then he perked up when he realized his number is the same as Nami's own. "Sorry, Zoro!" Chopper said and quickly scampered off to stand beside Nami's leg.

Law glared at the stick Nami had shoved into his hand and held it out to Zoro. "I don't plan on swimming, Zoro-ya."

A smirk danced across Zoro's lips as he shrugged. "Suit yourself. I will enjoy myself in the cool water then."

Robin finally looked up at Franky and smiled, "Seems like you're my partner."

"Don't worry, Robin. I won't let you down. And besides, I've come prepared too! I'm sure you'll like my new pool bed."

"Pool bed?" Chopper, Luffy and Usopp repeated excitedly.

"I've prepared several tube rings for safety reasons." Franky added.

"Awww, Franky you're the best!" Luffy rubbed his hands together. "So where is this pool bed? Can I use it?"

In the end the pool beds were only for Nami and Robin. The waist tubes were for everyone. Three of them had the noticeable head of Going Merry. Usopp and Nami teared up.

Only Law deemed the tube unimportant even when Luffy and Franky were the ones to force him to wear it around his waist at some point. Zoro laughed at his misfortune the whole time, making Law so angry, Law kicked Zoro into the water and primly walked away, picking up his clothes from the floor and disappeared into the Aquarium room.

The pool was huge enough to have a whole group of people paddle to their heart's content. The ones who weren't Devil Fruit users immediately took their chance to dive in and cool their bodies. Brook was so excited he followed suit as well but neglected to remember the water could sink him like a stone. In a matter of minutes he slipped out of his own tube and drowned, until Sanji dived after him and with one strong leg, shoved Brook out of the water onto the deck.

Nami had hogged her pool bed and only shared it with Chopper, lazily kicking the water to move the pool bed in circles. She splashed Chopper a few times since he was not equipped to handle the water by himself yet.

Franky pushed Robin's pool bed from one end to another while she laid out on the rubber with sunglasses perched on her nose, thoroughly enjoying the sun.

The moment Luffy touched the water, he lost his senses and nearly slipped out of his tube were it not for Usopp's timely rescue. After much testing and switching on how a Devil Fruit user would enjoy a bit of pool time, Usopp finally came up with the idea of pretending to be a pool bed while Luffy laid out on top of him.

* * *

He remembered.

His name.

It's like he had just broken out of the surface of the sea, gasping for air.

Usopp blinked blearily at the faces hovering above him.

"Are you alright, Usopp?" Chopper wailed.

"Do you remember your name?" Robin asked over Chopper's wailing.

"I had the strangest dream." Usopp smacked his lips together, tasting dry cotton balls and grimaced at the foul smell that lingered behind the back of his throat.

"Really?" Chopper shared a look with Robin. "Tell us about it? Here, drink something."

"Thanks, Chopper. We were swimming." Usopp explained, taking a few sips from the offered drink. "Me and Luffy. Hey, where's Luffy?"

"He's in eating out Sanji's pantry." Robin said.

"Sanji is going to kill him." Usopp muttered and Chopper nodded sagely. "Luffy is fearless."

"Tell us more about your dream."

"We were swimming and then a whirlpool was suddenly in the middle of our man-made pool. We all got sucked in and." Usopp paused to sip the drink to wet his dry mouth. "And we ended up in the nearest island."

"Go on." Robin prompted.

"-and, this might sound crazy but." Usopp laughed. "We somehow forgot we were still in the Sunny ship and thought we were supposed to eat barbecue and camp out on the beach."

"I see. So what happened next?"

"We split up. I don't remember who's with who anymore, but I was with Luffy." Usopp recounted. "The whole time. We climbed mountains, trees, crossed rivers and saw a magic arrow move."

Robin smiled indulgently as Usopp's speed of story telling started to pick up and he was making faces and sounds to entertain Chopper's wide eyes and Robin's curiosity.

* * *

A few days later, Franky pumped up the huge pool again. Luffy immediately latched onto Usopp's hand and declared them partners. They both grabbed Franky's offered swimming tube and rushed ahead to jump into the water, laughing all the while.

Until Luffy sunk into the water like a brick.

"YOU IDIOT! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOU'RE STILL AN ANCHOR." And Usopp screamed in panic, diving underwater to haul Luffy by the wrist.

Luffy sputtered water in Usopp's face and kept his arms around Usopp in a loose hug. "Well, you'll always be there to save me, right?"

Usopp rolled his eyes at the no-brainer question. "Of course!"

* * *

The End

* * *

* "Spirited Away" mentions and the title belongs to Ghibli's Studios.

* And I hope you can spot the cameos in that food scene.

* It didn't turn out a Luffy/Usopp-centric fic you must have expected. For that, I apologize.

* the title is from the first track of Spirited Away OST. Took lots of liberties to fit it in a general ghost world instead of an actual Spirited Away setting (like Yubaba and No-Name are def not in here).


End file.
